'Richterbriefe': confidential circulars of the Reichsministerium der Justiz (microfilm)

Reichsministerium der Justiz (Justice ministry) was one of the ministries of the Third Reich. The Richterbriefe are a series of confidential letters addressed to the Nazi judiciary from the Reichsministerium outlining in detail the stance that should be taken and verdicts, which should be given in numerous case scenarios. They were a method of further controlling and subordinating the judiciary to Nazi ideology. They came about shortly after the appointment of Otto Georg Thierack to the position of Reichsminister der Justiz in August 1942.

There were originally 11,000 sets of Richterbriefe, 10,384 of which were sent to the courts and the remainder to various ministries, senior government departments and party offices. The provenance of this particuar set is unknown.

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